A Scout's Take on the Play of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Corey Linsley

As I often am able to do, I had an opportunity on Friday to talk with scout Chris Landry on 620 WDAE's The Steve Duemig Show.

I wanted to get Landry's take on how safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and center Corey Linsley of the Green Bay Packers have performed so far as rookies, five games into the 2014 NFL season.

I have talked with Landry before about each of these players.

I had my eye on Clinton-Dix well before the 2014 NFL draft and talked with Landry as far back as January about the former Alabama Crimson Tide star.

When I talked with Landry back then, he had Clinton-Dix at the top of the safety class for the draft:

"Clinton-Dix is the best of the bunch (safeties)," Landry said. "He's got really good size. I think he's got good range. I think he's physical and I think he's got the ability to make plays on the ball."

In fact, based on my conversations with Landry about Clinton-Dix, I had the Packers selecting the ball-hawking safety in one of my mock drafts.

Then when the Packers and Ted Thompson actually picked Clinton-Dix in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft back in May, I had another chance to speak with Landry the next day.

"I didn't really think Clinton-Dix would be there for you, but I thought about you last night and I knew Packer fans like yourself have got to be really happy," Landry said. "This is a perfect example of a guy who knows how to run a draft in Ted Thompson, that works that draft board and good players fall to you. And you knew that the player was going to be a good one, and I thought it might be another guy from Alabama [C.J. Mosley], but this one's a great one and was a really good pick for them."

Clinton-Dix has not disappointed since his arrival in Green Bay, either. While he isn't technically a starter yet in the base defense the Packers run, he is getting plenty of playing time, as Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel pointed out in his rating of the Vikings-Packers game.

Clinton-Dix played 68 snaps in that contest as opposed to just 42 by starter Micah Hyde.

For the season so far, No. 21 has 19 combined tackles, one sack, two passes defended, one interception and one fumble recovery.

When I talked to Landry on Friday, he gave me his assessment of Clinton-Dix in the five games he has played so far this season:

"Ha Ha is a guy who understands passing concepts pretty well," Landry said. "And they do a lot, as you know. It's a very complicated defense to be in and understand and Dom does a really good job. I think he (Clinton-Dix) is progressing nicely."

In terms of Linsley, Landry and I had talked about the former Ohio State Buckeye before training camp this year when No. 63 and J.C. Tretter were battling to become the starting center. Even back then, Landry preferred Linsley:

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

"I like Linsley. I think he's got maybe a little bit more natural ability than J.C.," Landry said. "What you would love to have, in my eyes, is to see Linsley develop into that guy, and then Tretter can be your third interior offensive lineman with quality enough to start at center or either guard spot. And maybe one of your best three interior offensive linemen who may earn a starting spot."

Linsley had a solid training camp, but so did Tretter and it looked as though Tretter had the job as starter before he suffered he suffered a knee injury in the third preseason game against the Oakland Raiders.

According to head coach Mike McCarthy, the injury to Tretter would cause No. 73 to miss multiple weeks. But McCarthy also had faith that Linsley would do a good job at center.

"Corey Linsley took all the snaps today," McCarthy said back in late August. "He's going to do a heck of a job. He's obviously a rookie. I like his makeup. He needs the reps. His confidence will grow each and every day. He'll be ready."

Linsley has done a heck of a job since becoming the starter. Overall, his play has been solid and he has graded out well at center consistently.

Here is what McGinn said about Linsley in his rating of the offensive line after the Vikings-Packers game:

"Corey Linsley isn't playing like a rookie. Each week you see quickness, balance and an understated tenacity. His game is never flawless. He makes mistakes. He's also someone McCarthy and Rodgers should have complete confidence in by now."

Landry also likes what he has seen out of Linsley:

"Linsley has got good awareness," Landry said. "I think he's a good player and I think he's ahead of schedule."

The bottom line for the Packers is that they have two players in Clinton-Dix and Linsley who have been thrust into big roles with the team as rookies. Both have performed admirably and will continue to get better.